At World's End
by AliceElizabethEnglish
Summary: (semi modern demon hunter AU) 500 years have passed since the titans were defeated and now a new menace has taken their place. Demons and the supernatural run the world and humanity is scattered across the world. When the northern regions fall, three young friends must give up what is dear to them and prepare to fight once again as a demon lost 10 years before returns for revenge.
1. Prologue

**A/N okay so I did a thing. I started this thing. Okay, sorry for the shitty summary but, these are a few points you might need to know. There will be some implied pairings but, nothing to shippy until near the end. There will be major character death (I mean this is a SNK fanfic, it's not like everyone is going to live is it?). Also, I might try to add in horror and depending on what I decide later on, the rating may change. Okay now you can read.**

_Dear you,_

_Do you remember that day? The one when everything changed. We we're just playing around like idiots and had no real idea of the danger we we're putting ourselves in. We we're stupid, so stupid. I mean, we could of listened to those villagers but, we didn't and we had to pay the price. How could we of known? How could we?_

_I hope you remember how you all were just as scared as I was. You think having to just remember that moment, the pain and fear, is a punishment? It doesn't come close to what I have been through. You thought you knew me, knew what type of person I was but, time changes us all. I'm different now, no longer the same **human** I was back then. You're different too, living on while I'm here all alone waiting for you to come back for me. I've waited years, ten to be exact and yet, you haven't come back for me, not once! It's sad and lonely but, I'm still alive... technically speaking._

_You know what you did, I know what you did and I think the world should know what you did. You did something awful back then and I think it's about time for you to finally pay for what you've done. So, I'll destroy and kill as much as I can until you have to return here and finish what you started. I'll be waiting. Don't take too long._

The man folded the letter up once again, like he did everyday, and stored it within a draw in his desk, remembering to lock it and resumed his work. The letter was frayed at the edges and fairly aged now and needed to be stored. He had done this ritual everyday since the letter had mysteriously appeared on his desk. He had read it again and again and again but, still did not believe the words. What had happened all those years ago was in the past and he _desperately_ wanted to forget it but, he just couldn't. He knew _she _couldn't either. It hurt to think about their friend's face as their soul was ripped from them and morphed into something dark and sinister. He hoped with all his being that it had been nothing more of a nightmare.

_Nightmares don't write letters._

The man stood up, looking over the many papers scattered across his desk briefly wondering what his life had come to. He still had a lot of work to do and would most likely be up late again. His friend would probably bring coffee and sit with him for a while. They were getting more and more reports in lately, more people disappearing or turning up dead. Not many of these incidents fell into his category luckily and he could pass them on to the police. He mainly dealt with ghosts, witches and demons. When something he dealt with did crop up it was never anything big. He was thankful for that but, the amount of reports lately had been worrying.

_Nightmares don't make threats._

He quickly dismissed those thoughts and prepared for another daily routine, a visit to a good friend in hospital, another reminder of what had happened that terrible day. The man smoothed the wrinkles in his plain brown suit and began the long walk to the infirmary. Their headquarters was spacious and well furbished but, it was rather empty. Not many people wanted to join a bunch of suicidal ghost hunters.

He smiled fondly remembering something a friend said years ago.

"_We're not ghost hunters. What we hunt down is demons. When people realize how much we risk ourselves, those shit eaters will have to give us some form of respect."_

That had been one of his moments of weakness. He always felt that what they were doing had been meaningless but, that friend had been adamant that it wasn't. In fact he was the only one who wasn't sure and he had been partly right. One of them was now in a deep coma, one had gone completely crazy and the other, the other was dead.

The man's hands clenched into tight fists and he took several minutes to calm himself. Just _thinking _about that person made him feel sick and left him feeling a deeply piercing feeling of guilt. He knew it wasn't his fault that it happened but, he did nothing to stop the event from happening, couldn't stop his friend's death.

_Nightmares don't scream out for help._

Nobody stared at him any more as he passed them on the corridors, nor did they whisper behind his back. People had gotten used to this now. They all knew where he went but, none of them knew why. He wouldn't tell, they didn't need to know.

He rounded a corner and was soon stood outside the metal doors leading to where his friend rested in a deep coma. He breathed deep, smoothed his suit one last time and carried on the journey. His friend slept in a private space in the far western corner by a large window with only the machines keeping him alive, a small wooden table and a chair. _She _would usually come too but it seemed that there was a lot of research and experiments to do today. He seated himself in the usual chair and looked over his friend.

The sun was setting, painting the sky colours of orange and yellow. Everything seemed like it had been set alight and it was so beautiful. No matter how corrupt the world would become, the sky would forever be the same. Beautiful, peaceful and so far out of their reach. He turned his gaze to his friend/

His friend seemed so peaceful, sleeping there as if there was not a care in the world. But, he knew there was. He knew there was danger but, people refused to listen, to see, to acknowledge. Demons were all around them, living in the shadows, feasting off humankind's fear and ripping out souls as if they owned every last person on the planet. He vowed he would change this. He didn't want anyone else in the world to feel the pain they had.

Heavy footsteps snapped him from his inner musings just before the door was carelessly flung open. Whoever had the gall to barge in on him and his friend better of had a good reason. The man turned on his seat to look at a panting and panicking soldier. Before he could even tell the young man off, the poor lad had already shocked him into silence.

"Commander Erwin, sir, Shiganshina has been attacked by a Class A demon!"


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: okay welcome to the actual first chapter. Enjoy kiddos.**

It was a peaceful day. Birds happily chirped in their trees and bees lazily meandered from flower to flower. Spring had well and truly began. For the farmers, spring meant the birth of more animals and the planting of crops. There was much work to be done. For the children, however, it was a time of play. Warmer weather meant more time to go outside. The older kids went down by the river, even if the water was still freezing and the younger kids played in the fields and the old barn. Eren, Mikasa and Armin were some of these younger children.

They usually played in the barn but, since today was exceptionally nice, they had collectively decided to sit outside. Armin had once again managed to smuggle out one of his grandfather's many dusty old tomes while Mikasa was busying herself by making daisy chains for them all. Neither of these things interested Eren how ever, he was simply content to lay back by the big old oak tree looking up into it's branches.

"Eren! Look at this!" Armin called from his seat in a patch of longer grass.

The other boy's eyes were gleaming in wonder as he pointed at the book he had been looking through for the past hour. He slowly crawled over, body feeling heavy from it's long period of inactivity. When he did finally manage to drag himself through the dirt (sustaining a few grass stains that his mother would be less than pleased about) he was rewarded by nothing but a page full of words and strange pictures.

"Is this all?" He asked with a loud yawn.

"Look. This page, it's all about demons!" Armin replied excitedly, looking between both his friends.

"But, demons aren't real. They're just stories made up to scare children." Mikasa added in as she arranged a flower crown she had made on her head.

"Not according to this book! It says that demons aren't from Hell like all the adults always tell us. It says that they were humans once!"

The other two children looked at their friend in confusion. For them, such information was frightening yet, still as all new things, very exciting. They didn't know much about demons and whatever else was out there only what their parents had told them. They knew demons ate whatever they could and liked to prey on human souls. They also knew that they preferred the dark and that was why it wasn't safe to go out at night. But, they had come to realize that demons were just fairytales made up to scare them yet, this book was saying otherwise.

"Are you sure you're reading that right?" Eren joked giving his friend a light shove.

"I know I am. Look it says here 'when the human soul is corrupted by a large amount of any of the seven deadly sins, the soul turns black and the human dies. Their body is left behind but, the soul takes form and becomes a demon.' I _told _you they were real!"

The book roughly outlined the basic concept of what demons were and documented a lot of demons that had already been defeated. The three children were utterly enthralled with this information, losing themselves in the great stories and before they knew it, the sun was begging to set showing that it was time to go home. Even if it had been a nice day, the nights would still be cold and neither of them wanted to be late for dinner either.

The walk back to town wasn't too far but, it always seemed farther after a tiring day. Armin had gone home early as he wanted to be able to put the book back and pretend that he had never even been snooping around in another persons belongings. The other two knew that was wrong but, they wouldn't be as worried as their friend when it came down to being caught.

"We better hurry up or we'll get in trouble again if we're late." Mikasa advised grabbing Eren's wrist and pulling him along.

"Hey! Let go! I don't need you to drag me around!" The boy growled attempting to break free of the girl's grip, "I'm not some baby!"

He was practically raging by the time they made it to the bridge that spanned the river. It was quite old and had been there as long as their town had been. By the time they reached the other side, Eren had all but given up trying to break free and obediently trotted behind his friend muttering unhappily all the while. Suddenly, she stopped, hand letting go of his making him almost walk right into her.

"Hey, what's the big idea?"

Mikasa silently lifted a pale hand and pointed to the sky in the direction of the town. Eren looked in the direction she was pointing and saw what she was so worried about. They sky was filled with jet black smoke. They both knew what that meant: fire. Both wasted no time in sprinting in that direction, desperate to see what was happening.

They could see the flames from where they were. The fire looked like it had already taken out half of the town! Eren's heart was pounding against his ribcage frantically and Mikasa was panting out of breath but, neither were going to slow down. Before they knew it, they found themselves in front of the burning buildings. Bodies littered the streets, torn apart and some stripped of flesh.

"Eren... Mikasa...?" A small voice whispered from the side.

Both children dragged their gazes away from the terrible scene in front of them to a fallen log off to the left of them. Behind it with his knees drawn up to his chest and blue eyes poking out beneath blonde hair was Armin. The book had been dropped beside him, open on a random page about some incident some years ago. Both of the other children, rushed to him, quickly looking their terrified friend over. He had some burns up his arms and legs that seemed red and blistered. When Mikasa gently brushed her hand over his, he flinched away saying that it hurt.

Neither of them spoke. They didn't want to. Instead the three sat there behind the log, watching their homes burn to dust and the bodies with their dead eyes and twisted limbs vanish in the flames.

After what must have hours as the flames had begun to die out, Eren plucked up the courage to speak.

"What happened?" His voice was hoarse from breathing in the smoke.

It took Armin several minutes to begin to process what had just been said. He pulled his light coat further around himself staring off into the glowing embers.

"I don't know. I got home and grandpa had found out that I had been in the library again. He scolded me but, said I could keep the book if I liked it. We sat down for dinner but, then we heard a woman screaming outside." He muttered tears beginning to prick at the side of his eyes, " Grandpa told me to stay inside and went out to take a look. He was gone for at least half an hour. I got worried and looked out the window. That's when... when I saw your house on fire. Your mum... Eren your mum was dead on the floor!"

By this point he had burst into tears, looking at his friend's confused expression just made it worse and he began weeping even more loudly. Eren had also began to cry now as realization sank in. His mum was dead? A fire? It was obvious that the fire had spread since most of the houses were made from wood but, he didn't care about that.

Mikasa was also shaken but, she did not cry. She looked to be deeply in shock and just sat there, unfocused eyes looking at the crushed grass under them. Their world had been shattered and each of them were now left homeless, without food and badly shaken. After a while, Armin began to talk again.

"Your home wasn't the only one burning as well. That nice ladies house was on fire too. You know, the one who gave us those chocolates that time? She was the same, in the street dead. I couldn't see my grandpa, or your dad but, I figured out that they might of gone to get water. I thought that I could be useful. I don't remember why I grabbed the book either, but, I went looking for them that was when I saw... _it_."

The other two looked up now, attention fully on the boy who now slowly pulled the book towards him, closing it up and holding it close. In that moment, Eren knew. He knew that _it _was some sort of demon. A monster. It had come for the souls of the towns people and had got them.

"It looked like some sort of skeleton. It had such big horns that curled round. It was on all fours and had the largest claws I had ever seen. Inside, where there should have been nothing, it had magma. I ran away and hid here. I haven't seen it since."

Eren, despite having been given the news of his mother's death, put an arm around his friend. He didn't ask how he had gotten burnt and really, he didn't want to know either. His friend felt cold, even in the heat of the embers and he didn't want him to get sick or anything. Soon enough, the blonde child had fallen asleep and Eren wanted to do the same but, he was too afraid yo do so despite being so tired.

"You can sleep if you want, Eren." Mikasa breathed still shocked to the core before hardening her expression, "I'll protect you."

She stood, pretty white dress fluttering in the wind as she cast her flower crown that had been still sat on her head into the spluttering fire.

"I wont let anything or anyone hurt you."

For the first time, he let her do as she pleased, laying down next to his other friend letting sleep claim him as he watched the young girl stand in front of their ruined home town silently.

It had been very dark when they set off from the city. The horses were less than pleased but, Commander Erwin didn't care. He knew who was responsible and he knew what had to be done. He had personally picked out the most fearless soldiers he could find. Class A demons were at the top of demon society. He had seen what those types of beasts could do himself. He quickly said his prayers and looked up into the night sky. The sender of that letter had well and truly meant what they had said.

Without any more hesitation, he set off into the night, followed by all the others on horseback.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: okay chapter 2. here we go.**

It was early morning when Eren woke up. His back was aching from having slept on the ground all night and he was chilled to he bones. He hoped that what happened had been just a terrible nightmare but, looking around, it was clear that it hadn't been. The embers were still spluttering and smoking. Hardly any buildings were intact and the ones that we're looked to be in pretty bad shape as well but, the young boy didn't care about that.

He has lost his family. His mum was dead. His home was no more.

Eren had never felt like this before. He felt empty and just wanted anything _something _to fill the void left behind. That was when he remembered the demon or monster or whatever Armin had said it was. That thing had killed everyone! He grit his teeth and growled. Just thinking about it made his blood boil. He shifted position so his back was resting against the long, accidentally kicking the other boy in the face as he did so.

"Sorry." He quickly muttered although it seemed his friend didn't even seem fazed.

The sun had yet to rise but, was peeking over the horizon painting the sky red and orange. He quickly looked away having seen enough of those colours to last him a lifetime. Beside him Mikasa stirred, moving towards him, seeking warmth in her sleep.

Even though they had lost everything, they still had one thing: each other. He looked back up at the sky, craning his neck to look up at the clouds. The sun seemed to be rising fast but, the frost clogging the ground and their surroundings refused to melt. A small barely audible groan interrupted his small moment of silence. It seemed that Armin had decided to wake up too.

Half way through the night, they had looked over his burns again. It seemed that the injuries were a bit worse than initially expected even if they couldn't see much in the moonlight. He had felt cold to the touch then and felt even colder now. His breathing was slower than usual and he looked far from okay.

"Armin?" He mumbled brushing his friend's hair from his face.

The blonde boy opened one eye lazily and tried to move over on to his back, being rather careless with his burns. After a few failed attempts he slumped back on to his side with an exhausted huff. Eren gently helped him on to his back, being careful with his arms and legs. He seemed more tired than he was last night, even having sleep. Then again, he could of woken up at some point during the night as well.

He seemed confused as to what had just happened, slowly looking around himself as if he didn't know where he was.

"What's happenin'?" He slurred unfocused eyes searching his friend's face.

"You don't remember? Hey, are you feeling okay?"

Armin just whined and snuggled against Eren seeking warmth. He noted that a couple of his blisters had broken and were yellow in colour. That quickly sent Eren's heart racing. He remembered that one time this poor man came to their town seeking a doctor and his burns looked a lot like this. He had died a could days after due to a bad infection. If his friend had an infection too then it was likely he would die without medical attention.

"Hey, wake up." He called nudging the other boy as lightly as he was capable.

He snorted a little and looked up tiredly confusion clear on his face. Eren slowly felt for his pulse on his neck so that he wouldn't cause the other any discomfort by touching the burnt area. His pulse felt slightly weaker than it should have been (he silently thanked his father for teaching him things like this) which was quite worrying. Armin lightly swiped the hand away, paying no mind to his burns and rolled over on to his side so he was facing away from Eren.

"Hey, be careful!" the brown haired boy almost snapped, "You'll get more dirt in your blisters and hurt yourself!"

Worried about his friend's severe lack of judgement and care for his own health, Eren scooted over to where Mikasa was still snoozing. He gave her a light nudge with his foot causing her to wake looking rather annoyed.

"What is it?" She mumbled sleepily, quickly rubbing her eyes and sitting up straight.

Eren quickly explained the situation, by the time he had finished she was fully awake worry dep in her eyes but with a blank expression on her face. She quickly made her way to her other friend, quickly checking him over much like how Eren had done earlier.

"You were right." She choked.

Eren wanted to put an arm around her and tell her everything would be okay but, he couldn't. It _hurt _so much to think that even after surviving such an ordeal, his best and one of his only two friends was most likely going to die. He was about to lose another person important to him but, this time right in front of him.

He felt warm tears race down hi cheeks and he fiercely rubbed them away.

He refused to believe this was happening and carefully reached out to touch his now sleeping friend's face. _Still alive._ He was still alive thank God. Armin moaned and tried to shuffle away from the unwanted attention whining when one of his hands got caught in his hair. Mikasa gently untangled him and lay the injured limb across his weak body.

The sun had risen completely now but, there was mist hugging the landscape and it was still cold. They considered returning to the wrecks of their home to see if there was anything that had survived like blankets or clothing but, they were too scared to do so. The demon or monster or whatever it truly was could still be about, even if it was unlikely. Luckily there was no wind about so there were no sounds that could cover up any warning sounds. It was like that back in the old barn on the out skirts of town where the windmill would be really loud and they wouldn't be able to hear each other talk.

"The barn!" Eren explained all but leaping to his feet.

Mikasa looked at him her head tilted to one side.

"Do you think he'll make it?"

"I'll carry him. Come on, it's our only chance and it'll be warmer there. We made a fort out of old sheets and stuff when the others weren't there last summer right? That stuff should still be there."

Eren was beyond excited with his little brain wave. If he could carry Armin out to the barn the could wrap him in the sheets hopefully keeping him warm and more importantly, alive until help arrived. He gently roused the other boy from his sleep and carefully picked him up piggy-back style. Mikasa just shook her head as she walked along side them.

The river looked like it always had done. Shallow and devoid of fish as it raced down hill towards the plains. They all knew that even if the river wasn't that deep, it was still powerful and could easily sweep a man down stream, drowning him in mere minutes. The barn was just in the distance now, the way it had always been. It was boarded up and covered in ivy on one side. The wood itself had once been painted bright red according to the adults but, Eren was too young to remember.

Mikasa had run on ahead to get the door open and find out what they needed. He was thankful to have a friend as good as her.

"Where are we going?" The blonde lad mumbled into his friend's hair.

"We're going to the barn. You remember right? We played there last year in the summer." Eren answered adjusting the weight on his back, "It'll be warmer there than out here."

"... You should of just left me there to die and escaped while you could. You still can because I'm going to die anyway so you shou-"

"Hey don't tell me what I can or can't do! You're my best friend and I am _not _going to abandon you when you're sick." Eren snapped, gritting his teeth painfully, "And besides you wont die."

"I can't walk, I can't even use my hands. If I do survive, I don't think I'll be able to do both again."

Eren's stomach suddenly felt like it had been dropped into a bottomless pit. He hadn't thought of that at all. There was a chance that the damage would be that bad that Armin would have to have some of his limbs removed. He swallowed thickly. That was the worst case scenario and he hoped to whatever gods were out there that it wouldn't happen.

"That wont happen!" He growled with determination setting Armin down on one of the old sheets that Mikasa had laid out, "I'll make sure of it!"

He gently bundled his friend up in as may sheets as he could, being careful once again with his injuries.

"Feeling better?" Mikasa asked playing with the hem of her dress.

"A bit... I'm not as cold as I was before. Thank you."

He happily snuggled into the old sheets and covers, blowing out a deep breath. For the first time since the fire, Eren felt that things were starting to look up. They were safe, well, as safe as they could get at the moment. The only problem was that they currently had nothing to eat. He shook his head lightly trying to dispel that thought. They would cross that bridge when the came to it.

He yawned and leant back against a dusty crate. The old farmer who used to own this place just left them here and that's the way they had been ever since. Their home was a sleepy one and nothing much had ever really happened. The odd visitor or on occasion a thief would take a few things from the shop. Nothing in the world could of prepared them for something of this scale. Strangely, even with the threat of starvation and the ever present homelessness hanging over their heads everything was _peaceful_. Birds chirped in the clear sky, the wind rustled the leaves in the trees and Mikasa sat beside him picking at the hem on her dress.

Everything was like it should have been, there was even the sound of horses on the path as some of the men went out to hunt and fish.

"Horses?" He questioned.

He and Mikasa exchanged confused looks. How could there be horses when everyone was dead? Eren jumped up and ran from the barn instantly spotting the people on horseback a little down the road. The sun glinted off their weapons and they all seemed to be dressed alike. There was one person riding ahead of the others whom Eren guessed was their leader. He could now see that there were several carriages as well which meant this was a large operation.

The leader seemed to notice him and slowed down the nearer he got. Eventually, the man stopped, swinging gracefully of his horse. Eren noticed he was very tall, taller than most people in town, which intimidated the young boy a little. The man crouched down so that they we're eye level which must have been quite a bit of effort due to his height. He noted that the man's eyes were a startling brilliant blue, much like Armin's and he had a jagged scar down in neck. His hair had been scooped neatly away from his face and he looked like he had seen his fair share of Hell.

"Hey... ugh... my friend got burnt in the fire and... he needs help." He stuttered feeling more and more intimidated by the second.

Suddenly, the man's calculating gazed broke and shifted into a much kinder one. He motioned for another soldier to come forth, this one a woman with her hair in a ponytail and glasses perched on her nose. She seemed more open and friendly than the man, a smile gracing her face.

"Hello kiddo!" She greeted, "I'm Hanji, you said a friend of yours got burnt up right?"

"Uh... yeah, he did."

This woman confused Eren. She was so kind and happy, even in such a dire situation. She was like a breath of fresh air among the smouldering remains of the world around him. Most of the soldiers looked nervous or on edge but, she was bouncing with energy. He kindly showed her into the barn, hearing the man ordering the soldiers to check supplies and have a short break.

The scene in front of him hadn't changed in the small minutes he had left. Mikasa was still playing with the hem of her dress and Armin was buried under the musty sheets. He thought he heard Hanji giggle at how cute the "blonde one" was. He smiled slightly imagining Armin argue that he wasn't cute. She smiled warmly at Mikasa who just looked down seemingly unable to understand the woman soldier also then, looked over at Armin.

"Is it okay if I have a look at your injuries?" She asked running a hand nervously though her messy hair.

Armin had weakly nodded and Eren held him breath. This lady would know a lot more about infections, burns and hypothermia than what his father had cared to tell him so she would be able to tell if he would live or die. The atmosphere seemed to change when she carefully peeled away the different layers of material. Mikasa had stood by the time Hanji had finally unwrapped their friend. She had simply walked over to Eren and stood by his side. Nothing needed to be said, they both knew what she meant.

After a while of carefully inspecting each of Armin's injured limbs, Hanji got up from her place on the floor, brushed herself down and turned with another grin.

"He's not immensely bad, if you weren't in the old barn I don't think he would have had a chance in Hell."

A surge of relief flooded through Eren's body. His best friend would live. He felt as if he could just kiss this strange woman.

"We'll take you all to one of the carriages and get you some food. You must be hungry."

He was now sure that he had not heard sweeter words in his short life. No only had this stranger practically ensured the life of his best friend she was _feeding _them too. He was sure that she was an angel sent from heaven. He watched her scoop Armin up, covers and all, and asked them to follow her out. Eren wasted no time in grasping Mikasa's hand and for the first time since the fire, she smiled. Things would have to be okay now, no matter what.


End file.
